keep calm

i'm sure everybody has seen/heard about the "keep calm and carry on" posters

these are some of my faaaaaves

happy thursday!

snapshots of lately

sometimes i get bored and go through the pictures on my phone

one of those times was right now

and look what i found, if you feel so inclined

this would be charlie

hank and hannah's new puppy

isn't she the cuuuuutest?

i want her

and this would be from mine and betsy's day together

sometimes weston comes to cheer me up

and makes cakes with me

and then my house goes up for sale

tonight deer were in the middle of the road when i was driving home

three of them

this was after they already started to run away

so the other day when we went to world's of fun,

my brother got bored waiting for kate's camp to get over

so he started reading all the owner's manual material about my car

hahahhaha so awesome

reese does a good job keeping an eye on our cookies

back when we were looking through our old stuff,

i happened upon this

hadley used to think i was her favorite

[insert "awwww's" here]

aaaand i got my nails done the other day

ta-daaaa! that is all

thank you and goodnight

quality family time

most families bond over conversation at family dinner. not my family. we bond over conversation kneeling in my parents' room before family prayer. for some reason, that's the only time we actually have to tell about our days and such. i'm gonna be a gem and let you in on what happened tonight... oh, but first. i need to give you a little background info. conner is my stepbrother and his mom lives about 30 minutes away. also, a few months ago conner got a speeding ticket and he has court on thursday

conner: i think i should probably go visit my mom sometime before i have court. who knows, i could be in jail next week.

my mom: i don't think you'll be in jail, but you might not be able to have your license until you're at least 21.

conner: i don't understand how that would benefit society.

my mom: that benefits society by not having you on the road.

conner: society also isn't going to be benefited from me being on welfare at 17 because i can't drive to work.

conner: are you gonna be pissed at me when they tell me what my consequences are?

my mom: i won't be upset, but i probably won't be too happy if you're wearing an orange jumpsuit with a 5 digit ID number on your back.

hadley: you'll be okay, just make sure you give your lunch to the biggest guys

(talking about what specific things we should pray for tonight)

my stepdad: you should probably pray for yourself this week that everything will go well in court

conner: i feel weird asking god to hook me up so the judge doesn't hate me after i broke a couple of pretty important laws

my mom: well you should definitely feel weird asking god to "hook you up" with anything

hadley and i didn't say a whole lot. we couldn't stop laughing...

gettin' down on friday

friday night i babysat walker (not the little blondie i normally babysit... two walkers, one neighborhood). sometimes we play outside. sometimes we build forts in the basement. sometimes we play video games. sometimes we watch movies. sometimes we draw. and friday night, there was a lot of drawing. i wrote amy another birthday letter, while walker was silently working on this magic...

(that would be me and walker holding hands, i think we're cute)

and then we went outside, but walker discovered spiders and spiderwebs all over his play-set, so i sat on the back porch swing with buster. i happen to quite like buster. he's a funny dog. and he likes to give me kisses. so he's alright. 

after walker was sound asleep and his parents returned from their date night, i went to logan's to watch a movie, but ended up watching him and wil play call of duty for two hours. so that was just, awesome.

how was your weekend? 

B.A.C.

alright, so... as i mentioned here, i graduated in 2009. but my sister showed me this video yesterday that the student council made for the class of 2011. sometimes i miss high school. i'm so happy i graduated from lhs. i moved to a new high school the summer after my freshman year. and it was probably one of those things that changed my life for the better. i moved from a school of 1500 kids to 500 and experienced a completely different atmosphere as a result of that. i had opportunities that i probably wouldn't have, had i stayed at such a big school. at louisburg, everybody knows everybody. literally, everybody. the teachers, staff, and administration all knew me by name, and most of the kids had been together since preschool. something about louisburg is just... different. we're more unified, not just as a class, but as an entire school community. and this video, i think, helps show that.

p.s. my sister is the hot blonde they call "girl"

p.p.s. if you're curious about the "B.A.C." title, it stands for "Believe, Achieve, Commitment," but a couple years ago at a football game, the student section started cheering "Bad Ass Cats" instead, and B.A.C. was banned... neat

(top five) on friday

before i get into today's post... everybody who is the least bit self-conscious sometimes, or has the slightest insecurity, or has "fat" days or "ugly" days, or who, in other words, is human, you must go read this. also i think this happens to be the greatest thing i've seen all week. alright, that is all. moving on... 

so ashley over at i believe in unicorns does a top five post every friday. and this week i felt like i needed to join her. so, here's to my...

(top five) youtube covers

in no particular order

1. "just a dream" by nelly

covered by sam tsui & christina grimmie

2. "firework" by katy perry

covered by peter hollens

3. "that should be me" by justin bieber

covered by aj rafael and albert posis

4. "sunday morning" by maroon 5

covered by andrew garcia and angie girl

5. "hold it against me" by britney spears

covered by chester see

i know i'm at my 5 already, but i've also been a really big fan of alex hobbs for a couple years. so here is his cover of "your body is a wonderland" by john mayer.

HAPPPPY FRIDAYYY!

aims baims

i've briefly discussed here and here just how much i adore amy. but for real. she's literally the greatest thing that happened to me friend-wise. and today, i did my daily creeping and what did i find? i found this magic. i feel that this perfectly describes our relationship. i love amy. and how many days til i see her? only 63! 

disneyland, kc style

sometimes in kansas we have to get creative with things to do during the summertime. so a month or so ago, kate and sam helped me put together a list of "fieldtrips" we could go on this summer to have fun while they're out of school. high on the list was world's of fun... for those of you not familiar with kansas city, it's the only decent amusement park within i don't know how many miles of us. i'm pretty sure it's one of the lowest rated theme parks in the country (i feel like i saw that on the travel channel or something). but i happen to love world's of fun. it's got to be one of the happiest places on earth. 

so yesterday the three of us went. and i brought my brother along so sam would have some moral support and not have to be the only boy for the whole day. we had the absolute best time. the kids were well behaved, the weather was perfect, the lines were short, and it was a perfect day to scream our heads off on terrifying roller coasters.

doin' my thaaaang

so i just saw ashley's post on all the states she's visited, and i decided i wanted to make a map of my nation-wide visits. and i feel kind of pathetic. i realized i haven't been farther east than illinois, with the exception of florida, and i haven't been in very much of the south at all. my friends josh and andrew's family has been to every one of the 50 states. they finished their 50th up last summer with their family, and i'm jeeeeaaaalous. maybe when i have time and money and a really fuel efficient car i'll take a massive roadtrip across the country. that'd be neat. who's with me?

visited 17 states (34%)
Create your own visited map of The United States 

also, i've started doing pilates and i'm already in love with it. my first class was last night and my whole body hurts today. my brother and i are still doing our 4.6 mile bike ride every night! i love it. that's all really. same old thing every day. but i like it a lot. i like being busy. i like spending time with my kiddos. and i like seeing my bank account go up and up, and closer and closer to my goal. 

the end.

ten things you didn't know

...about me

1) i'm legally blind

2) my right foot is bigger than my left

3) i have a fake tooth

4) i've been on the news

5) i'm terrified of the dark (yes, still, i know...)

6) my dream car is a range rover

7) i'm obsessed with music

8) i'm a sucker for accents and big words

9) june bugs freak me out more than anything

10) i did a guest post for miss chelsie this week

p.s. check it out

oh, and my brother and i went on a bike ride tonight

also i made those shorts

i guess you learned 12 things today instead of 10

...neat

insert creative blog title here

okay, first off...

my family is moving!!!!!

i've lived in kansas for 17 years. it's all i've really ever known because we moved here from california when i was about 3, and like most 3 year-olds, i don't have hardly any memories from before then. but basically kansas has been our home forever. and it's gonna be really weird leaving, but change is good. and though i'm not going to be in kentucky for very much of the year, i'm really excited about it.

the other day i told you i've been obsessing over this blog. and well, it's rainy today here too, so her post this morning was so poetic and perfect and i really enjoyed it. the sky is doing crazy things today. maybe it has something to do with the eclipse last night.

aaaaalso, i've recently fallen in love with the shine project. this week is "fitness week" and after i saw this post, i grabbed my brother and we decided we're going to be better about getting our daily exercise. so far we've gone running and played basketball. tonight we're planning going on a bike ride. and i find it all too exciting. i've lost 20 pounds since last summer, and i want to continue to be healthy and set more goals. betsy told me about livestrong.com and how you can track what you eat, your physical activity, and the progress you're making. it's nice to be able to have a visual of my progress.

i spent my yesterday with hank and hannah! we played on my old elementary school's playground (hello nostalgia), went to the library, ate pizza, went to the pool, had a kool-aid stand, and went to get peachwave with the money they earned from selling kool-aid. it was a blasty blast.

also i got to skype with cass and mads and that made me really happy. only 69 days til i'm in the pacific west!

meet little paige

my mom is gonna pay her best friend from high school to come out and do some scrapbooking for my sister and me. so over the weekend we sorted through all of our old "treasures" and such from when we were little and organized them by age. we found lots of notes we wrote to our mom, pictures and mini book reports we did in elementary school, and other things we had forgotten about. i found these a midst everything else. i'm pretty sure i hadn't seen them before yesterday. i was so... blonde, and little. 

it was a very nice trip down memory lane

cutie faces

i feel like maybe this is a little bit blurry, but it's a phone pic. and he was ready to speed away. but this is walker and his beautiful sister reese. isn't she pretty? i like when i get to play with them. they're cute, and fun, and stuff. and i just like this picture a whole lot. that's all really.

i hope everybody had the absolute best sunday!

look what i found

sooo, i have to give a talk in church on sunday. am i working on completing it? nope, i'm organizing the files on my computer. because i'm the biggest procrastinator on the planet (if you think you can compete with me for that title, you cannot), and will do absolutely anything besides focus on the task at hand. anyhow, while "organizing" my life, i found this poem. i think maybe i wrote it in a creative writing class a couple semesters ago? i'm not sure where exactly it came from. but i found it. and anyone who knows my family knows that my mom is the writer. not me. but i'm being brave and showing the world anyways.

There is a place I like to go – to think, to dream, to pray, to wonder, to get away.

It’s my haven. 

It’s my refuge.

It’s my Sacred Grove.

There is something so ideal about swinging –

Pumping your feet,

Getting in a rhythm of moving your legs out and in to gain height,

Until you arrive at the point where you are as tall as the trees,

So close to the sky that you feel like if you reach out far enough,

You just might be able to touch it.

My playground takes me back to my childhood –

To a time when I didn’t care,

When I didn’t worry,

When I didn’t doubt.

A time when everything was still good,

When I wasn’t afraid to dream,

When I was completely myself.

It is there, on the last swing on the right,

That I take my deepest thoughts, secrets, and desires.

It is there, where the swings squeak and the children play,

That I discover myself.

I don’t know if it’s the cathartic fresh air,

The juvenile setting,

Or the fact that I have a place to escape to just two minutes from my house,

But there is nothing that lifts my mood like entering the world that I experience at that swing.

It is where everything else melts away,

Where, for however long I am there, nobody can bother me.

My playground isn’t fancy, secret, or my own.

But it’s perfect.

And when I’m there, I belong. 

this and that

hi peeps. a couple people have been asking. so, for those who have: here are links to my tumblr & my twitter

also, i highly suggest you take a bite of keebler's chips deluxe coconut cookies. call me crazy, but they're to die for.

and last but not least. everybody in the world knows that i went to ecuador a few months ago, because i just can't stop talking about it. welllllll, i just got an email from the people at osso (the organization i went with) about a "hurdle for hope" race they're doing. gugelman photography and osso are teaming up with dando amor to help the little orphan kids in ecuador. all the proceeds go directly to the orphanages osso works in!

alright, here are the deats (i honestly can't believe i just said "deats" ...anyways, moving on):

when: saturday, july 16th at 9am

where: nature park on 5th west & 3rd north in rexburg

races: 5k, 3k, 1k, and a kids' run

and here's how you register. you can; 1) go to www. hurdleforhope.org and use the discount code "hurdle" for 25% off, or 2) call jason of gugelman photography at (208) 313-6622.

please please pleeeeaase, those of you in rexburg, i encourage you to be there! i'm sure it'll be a blasty blast. if i was at school right now i definitely would be doing it myself. but if you do end up going, let me know!

the more i learn, the more i love

last summer i got to sort through grammy's letters for my grandma. i got to learn about her life. about her, and her relationships with her children, nieces and nephews, and grandchildren. it was interesting getting to learn all about a time in my family's history that i wasn't apart of.

now, this summer, i'm getting to do something similar for my mom. when she was attending to byu, she was assigned to write a personal history. it consisted of four different papers, with four different titles; "my first five years," "school age paper," "adolescent autobiography" and "personal inventory". when she typed these up, it was on a typewriter. 18 years later, they are starting to fade. my mom asked me to type these up for her before they're gone completely, so she'll be able to have them forever (and i was promised a $100 reward when it's complete, the cherry on top).

as i type each page of my mom's life, i'm beginning to question if giving me this project was really so she could just give me a little help with paying for school, or if it was so i could get to know her better, in a different way. if it was maybe so i would learn how incredible of a father my grandpa was, or how kind, loving, and gentle my grandmother was with her children. i'm going to guess the latter, but it doesn't really matter. i'm just absolutely loving doing this for my mom.

i just finished the second paper, so i better get back to it. "adolescent autobiography," here i come!

tunes on tuesday

this week i decided to join ashley on her weekly tuesday music post. mostly because a really exciting album was just released today. i think i may have once or twice talked about my obsession with aj rafael. maybe? welllllllll, he's this fantastic youtube sensation. he's filipino and  so incredibly talented. and he's releasing his first full-length album today! it's called "red roses" and you can buy it here on itunes, or here on amazon.

i found aj a few years ago and fell in instalove with him. back then he was doing mostly covers of songs people requested to hear, and then he started writing and recording originals. and finally he got enough support to record a full-length album, and without a record label. i happen to think that's kind of impressive. anyways, i just really love aj rafael. and feel that the whole world should be a part of the magic that is his musical talent and ability. here is a preview of the whole album, and a couple of my favorites... enjoy!

the entire thing is phenomenal but here are links to the videos of my very favorites:

we could happen

without you

500 days

when we say

so, if you feel like putting $9.99 to good use, falling in love with some new music, and following my suggestion, gooooo buy it! i promise it won't be a waste. that is all. happy tuesday.

recap

being home from college, i detest weekends. i don't have any friends in kansas right now. they're all in utah or idaho at school or working (like amy, cassie, juelaine, and betsy), or in california for summer selling (like calaigh), or living in kansas city doing music things cause their band is all big and cool (like sean). you catch my drift. basically i'm left friendless.

this weekend wasn't too terrible at all though. saturday i was with kate and sam, who i happen to really adore. i've never enjoyed two kids so much. we went to the pool, and then watched how to train your dragon and popped some popcorn. i honestly don't know how i've lived so long without seeing that movie. it was fantastic, and now i want a pet dragon. i wonder if my apartment manager will be cool with that. 

sunday i wore my new dress. have i ever mentioned how much i looove target dresses? they're my absolute favorite. and this dress has pockets! dresses with pockets are one of my favorite things. 

my primary class was a little roudy, but i'm going to assume that was just because they missed me when i was gone last sunday. and maybe the super nice weather. but mostly they missed me. because of my absence i got extra hugs from ruthy, which i love. and susie drew me a picture. i love 7 yearolds.

we had the missionaries over for our sunday meal, which consisted of spaghetti with meatballs, garlic bread, corn, salad, and left over funfetti cake. we talked to the elders for about an hour or so after we finished eating, about everything. they both go home so soon (three weeks for one, and two months for the other)! my mom gave them advice about dating and marriage, hadley did a little show-n-tell (of basically all her belongings) in an effort to "show them who she is" ...i don't know, i wasn't sure where she was going with that.  and i promised to make them both a list of all the music and movies they've missed out on for the last two years. 

it was a quality sunday. oh! and i skyped with amy and betsy, and fell asleep talking to cassie. i miss my people. 80 days til i'm in utah, everybody. 80 days.

also, two more things. i'm obsessed with this blog and this song.

the end

how was your weekend?

dandelions

our brain's ability to remember things is impressive. we all have songs, movies, words, pictures, smells, things, that take us back to a particular person, day, time, or memory. whatever it may be, that link we have, it's what helps keep that memory alive.

when i smell old spice cologne, i think of my grandpa

when i wear my tie-dye shirt, i get nostalgic for last summer with my best friend

when i eat gardetto's, i remember the time i got sick after my 4th grade christmas party

when i hear mae, i think of david

well, when i see dandelions, i start missing ecuador...

i don't even know what it is about dandelions that i've attached ecuador to, but it won't go away. maybe it's because the park we took the kids to play in was riddled with dandelions from rarely being mowed. or maybe it's because rosa used to bring them to me in bunches. or maybe it's because belen and i used to put them behind our ears to match. i don't know what it is. but i see dandelions everywhere lately. and i can't stop missing my babies.

the freshest

as i've mentioned before, i'm nannying this summer. and i've already figured out that i'm going to be spending a lot of time at the pool. i'm not really even mad about it though. i wake up, throw on a swimsuit and a tshirt, and head out the door. the last three days i've spent a total of ten hours at the pool. have i already gotten sunburned? yes. have i braved the cold water and jumped in yet? no. but that's okay, i have three more months for that...

hiiiiiiii nasty natural hair

meet dixie, betsy's kitty. it turns out, dixie is a boy. so now dixie is dix. betsy loves her (him, it, whatever) just the same. sometimes they have staring contests... betsy always wins.

and i may or may not have finally gotten david to play "tisbury lane" for me. i've only been trying for, oh, i don't know, six months? but it was unbelievably worth it. my future husband will play the guitar for me everyday. not that david and i have plans to get married. haha i'm just saying, whoever it may be.

happy (almost) summer!

rejection

i have recently learned that rejection is probably the worst kind of hurt






especially when you're rejected by the people who are pretty much programmed to love you

it's a great day at the K

this is definitely one of the cutest things on the planet

and it happened in kansas city!

p.s. i heard on the radio this morning that they got married today!

hooray for love, and proposals, and weddings, and stuff